Colorado school superintendents launch funding "insurrection"
By Kevin Simpson and Lynn Bartels The Denver Post The Denver Post Posted: DenverPost.com
Frustrated in the wake of budget cuts and unfunded education mandates, Colorado school superintendents have banded together in an effort to restore money and control to local districts.
The groundswell — one superintendent called it an "insurrection" — draws budgetary battle lines over education funding as the legislature tackles K-12 challenges in the wake of Amendment 66's defeat.
With voters last year soundly rejecting the proposed infusion of $950 million in new tax dollars, the question becomes how to repair damage done by the recession with existing budget dollars — even with improving revenue projections.
The superintendents seek a commitment from lawmakers to bolster basic funding by addressing the so-called "negative factor," the work-around employed to cut about $1 billion in recent years despite constitutionally required increases in education spending.
"It's the most urgent education priority that our state has," said Jason Glass, superintendent of Eagle County Schools. "The people in the field, in the schools, the people leading the schools are telling the legislators that — although we're not sure the message is getting through. That's really the reason for the movement."
Glass invoked the "insurrection" label to describe an ideologically broad majority of superintendents that demands lawmakers address the "broken promise" embodied by the negative factor.
The superintendents have put forward a proposal to allocate $275 million in recurring funds to public schools beyond the governor's yet-to-be-proposed increase. Much of that total would go toward reducing money lost through the negative factor. But portions also would go toward at-risk students in areas such as English-language development, special education and literacy.
The proposal, which came out of an early January meeting of about 70 superintendents, also gained overwhelming approval statewide based on results of a survey, Elizabeth School District Superintendent Douglas Bissonette said.
He said legislators have grown out of touch with the reality of the state's public schools and that reforms in areas such as early literacy, educator effectiveness and school accountability — which came with no dollars attached — have sapped budgets.
"They seem to think what citizens want are state-level, one-size-fits-all solutions for public education," Bissonette said. "The reality is communities are supporting districts through bond issues and mill-levy overrides because they want local solutions that represent their values and goals."
The superintendents have an ally in the Colorado Association of School Boards, which passed a resolution in December calling for the legislature to "buy down" the negative factor over the next five years.
"It's foundational to us, because it cuts the foundational funding for districts — it cuts basic levels of funding," said Jane Urschel, deputy executive director of CASB. "We asked the boards to tell their stories. They've all cut differently, because the negative factor affects each district differently."
Some superintendents expressed concern that lawmakers will push pet projects, including pieces of Senate Bill 213 — the now-dormant legislation that spawned Amendment 66, its required financial trigger. They also worry those projects — such as an enhanced financial transparency provision and a rolling student-count day for funding purposes — would also eat into an education fund that currently holds about $1 billion.
Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, a retired teacher and member of the Education Committee, said she's all for the programs.
"But I'm not a proponent of us micromanaging a district's money," she said. "They know their communities. They know their schools. Let them decide how to spend it."
Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, said he wants school districts to get more money, but there is no way legislators will allow them 100 percent flexibility.
"A number of legislators have specific projects they want to support," Johnston said, including all-day kindergarten, early literacy and help for English-language learners. "We're trying to find common ground."
He plans to introduce a bill within the next week or two — with no unfunded mandates — that he hopes superintendents will embrace.
Johnston said the reason legislative leaders went to the voters with Amendment 66 in the November election is because there's no way to fully restore the cuts to education with the current funding stream.
He added that the state is only a few years away from hitting what is known as the TABOR cap, a reference to the 1992 Taxpayer's Bill of Rights that mandates revenues and spending. There will be additional revenues, but the state will be required to return them to Coloradans when they file for their state income-tax return.
Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, a former school board member who currently sits on the board for a charter school, said that from what he has heard, superintendents aren't likely to support Johnston's bill.
"I would hope we would take the time to listen to the constituents," Renfroe said. "People closest to the students know how the money should be spent."
That's why superintendents such as Steven Schultz of Mesa County Valley School District 51 want to see the focus not on crafting new initiatives but sending support to the ones already in place.
"It seems to me and others that we need to be focusing on restoring some of those funds," Schultz said. "This wouldn't raise taxes, but divert funds back to the schools so we can follow through on things that we have been mandated to do in the name of learning."
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